Coalition reclaims former IS stronghold in Syria

A Syrian Kurdish official says US-backed fighters are now in control of a northern Syrian town that until recently was a stronghold of the Islamic State group.

Nasser Haj Mansour of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces says Manbij “is under full control,” adding that search operations are still ongoing to try find any extremists who might be hiding in the town.

The SDF launched its offensive in late May to capture Manbij under the cover of airstrikes of the US-led coalition. Manbij was a main point linking the self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq with the rest of the world.

Manbij was an IS hub and lies on a key supply route to the Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Raqqa.